San Angelo Central 28, Abilene High 23 — A slow start proved too much to overcome as the Eagles’ attempt to rally out of a 21-3 third-quarter hole came up just short in a hard-fought loss to the Bobcats.
AHS, which got two touchdown passes and a scoring run from quarterback Tristan Beal, outscored Central 20-14 in the second half, but a 14-3 halftime deficit, which grew to 18 points after a blocked punt was returned for a touchdown, was too big a gap to close.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Albany football (87 images)”
Santo 22, Chilton 13 — Jackson McKinnerney ran for 142 yards and a touchdown, while Rylan Griffith ran for 88 yards and passed for 50 to help the Wildcats kick off the 2026 season with an impressive win over the Pirates.
Santo, which saw a 14-0 lead after a quarter whittled to 14-13 in the third, outgained Chilton 348-221 — including 298-171 on the ground — to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the turnover margin.
Goldthwaite 59, Junction 27
Goldthwaite dominated Junction, outgaining JHS 502-220, including 283 yards rushing.
Haynes Greenway led GHS, with 219 yards passing and three scores.
Landry Sanderson was the top ground gainer for Goldthwaite with 132 yards and four TDs on 22 carries.
Coleman 16, San Angelo Grape Creek 12 — Post-touchdown conversions were the difference in this matchup, which saw the Bluecats cash in two-point conversions after both of their touchdowns while the Eagles failed to convert after either of their two scores.
Grape Creek, which trailed 8-6 at halftime, led 12-8 in the third quarter after following a first-half defensive touchdown with a rushing score. But Coleman closed out the scoring with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Hunter Edington to Jayden Smith for what proved to be the winning points.
Colorado City 29, Roscoe 22 (OT) — The Wolves followed up their shocking upset of Sonora in last season’s finale with another impressive showing to open the 2026 campaign, outlasting the Plowboys in overtime.
Quarterback Ace Mejia led the way for C-City, rushing for 173 yards and two touchdowns to go with his 107 yards and additional TD passing, while sophomore Joel Hernandez finished with 86 yards on just eight carries, including the game-sealing 22-yard touchdown run in overtime (shown in the video above).
Stamford 80, Haskell 62 — The Bulldogs outlasted Haskell in a shootout for the ages.
Miles Follis threw for 324 yards and four scores and Brenham Walker rushed for 134 yards and a TD to lead Stamford (1-0).
Haskell was led by Haegan Pinkerton with 339 yards rushing and four TDs. He also threw for 176 yards and three more scores.
Comanche 28, Breckenridge 6 — Cooper Welch threw for 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 pass attempts, and LaDainian Smith added 63 yards and a pair of scores on the ground to fuel the Indians to a three-score win over the Buckaroos.
Comanche also got productive days from Nicolas Anaya (6-91 rushing) and Zaden Tello (6-82 rushing; 2-64, 1 TD receiving) in increasing a 13-0 halftime lead to 28-0 in the fourth quarter before Breckenridge finally got on the board with an 80-yard kickoff return.
Colorado City 29, Roscoe 22 (OT) — Ace Mejia threw for 206 yards and two scores and rushed for 173 yards and two more TDs to lift Colorado City to a win in overtime.
Aydin Cruces led Roscoe with 206 yards passing for two scores.
Roscoe will play host to Forsan (1-0) next Friday.
Crane 21, Odessa Compass 14 — The Golden Cranes kicked off the Cannon McWilliams era with a victory, never trailing in an impressive win over the Cougars to keep the district from going winless in Week 1.
After scoring first in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead into halftime, Crane watched Compass rally to tie the game on a 24-yard pass early in the third quarter. But the Golden Cranes answered with a pair of TD passes of their own to go up 21-7 in the fourth quarter before holding on down the stretch to make a winner out of the former Big Spring coach.
Abilene TLCA 46, Baird 20 — First-year coach Webb Murphy’s Eagles snapped a 28-game losing streak that dated back to Sept. 8 of 2023 with a win over Baird.
BHS took a step up from the six-man ranks to challenge the Eagles but fell victim to QB Tyler Johnston, who hit 10 of 12 throws for 195 yards and three scores. He also rushed 15 times for 62 yards.
Senior Dashawn Polk had a big day as well, catching three passes for 44 yards and two scores and rushing for 124 yards and two TDs.
Wall 42, Canyon West Plains 35 — Gunner King passed for 415 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 32 yards and an additional score to lead the Hawks to a thrilling come-from-behind win over the Class 4A Division I No. 10 Wolves in his first varsity start at quarterback.
Gunner Garza added 110 yards and a TD on the ground and 76 more yards receiving, while Jager Thompson (6-99), Evan Boehle (4-85, 1 TD) and Hudson Surber (5-83, 1 TD) also had productive days catching the ball for Wall.
Brock 42, Springtown 20 — Holt Frazier passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns, and Bryer McDonald ran for 95 yards and three scores to fuel the Eagles to a three-touchdown win over the Porcupines.
Sophomores Casen Christenson (7-103, 1 TD) and Jett Kerr (3-93, 1 TD) both had productive receiving days for Brock, which used a 21-point second quarter to take a 28-6 lead into halftime.
Idalou 31, Sweetwater 6 — Two fumbles and an interception hurt Sweetwater in its opener with Idalou.
The Mustangs were limited to 245 yards in total offense, with 187 of that coming on the ground.
Mason Blueford was the top gainer for Sweetwater with 61 yards rushing on eight carries.
Idalou (1-0) finished with 389 total yards.
Waco La Vega 42, Franklin 16 — Ben Thompson rushed for 131 yards and two scores and Kourtney Parr threw for 116 yards and rushed for one TD to lift La Vega to a surprisingly easy win over perennial power Franklin.
Leading 14-9 at the break, La Vega pulled away with a 28-7 second half.
El Paso Ysleta 30, Big Spring 22 — Colin Mikels ran for 157 yards and a touchdown, and Javon Jackson passed for 96 yards and ran for 69 more and two scores, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Steers to a win in coach Stacey Martin’s Big Spring debut.
Ysleta raced out to a 14-7 halftime lead and stretched that to 22-7 by the start of the fourth quarter, when BSHS tried to rally came up a touchdown short.
Glen Rose 28, Grandview 7 — Thomas Littlejohn rushed for 202 yards on 28 carries to pace Glen Rose to an impressive season-opening win over Grandview.
Jayden Garza led the Glen Rose defensive effort with 11 tackles and one sack. Cash Henrich added an interception.
The Tigers will travel to Gatesville (0-1) next Friday.
Jacksboro 52, Millsap 18 — Ryder Davis rushed for 208 yards and three scores to lead JHS to an impressive win in its opener.
Quarterback Hoytt Wesson was a big contributor as well, rushing for 87 yards and two TDs and throwing for 85.
The Tigers (1-0) will face Boyd (1-0) at home on Friday.
Stephenville 44, Midlothian Heritage 21 — Trot Jordan threw for 378 yards and three scores and Caden Monk caught 11 passes for 242 yards and one score to lead the Yellow Jackets to a win over 5A Heritage.
Leading 24-21 at the break, Stephenville turned up the defensive heat after the break and scored 20 unanswered points to put the game away.
AZLE — Cooper never trailed until the final minute of its season opener at Azle on Friday, but Auston Morgan’s fourth touchdown pass of the evening — a 38-yard strike to Kaden Haas with 57 seconds remaining — left the Cougars on the wrong side of a 28-24 heartbreaker in Scott Stewart’s first game as head coach.
The Cougars outgained the Hornets 270-159, limiting Azle to minus-19 yards on the ground, but the home team found a way to rally from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit to pull even in the third period.
And after kicker Felipe Herrera gave Cooper a 24-21 lead with 9:56 to play in the fourth, the Hornets completed the comeback with less than a minute to play when Morgan found Haas for the winning score.
SAN ANGELO — A slow start and potentially back-breaking special teams play out of halftime left the Abilene High football team in need of a substantial fourth-quarter comeback Friday, and the Eagles almost pulled one off in their season opener at San Angelo Central.
AHS rallied from a 21-3 third-quarter deficit to pull within one score midway through the final period, and the Eagles got the ball back in the final minute with a chance to complete the comeback. But a Hail Mary attempt from their own side of the field was batted away on the final play, allowing the Bobcats to celebrate a 28-23 victory in the 100th all-time meeting between the teams.
Friday’s outcome snapped Abilene High’s three-game winning streak against Central, giving the Bobcats a narrow 48-47-5 lead in a series that dates back to 1910.
The Brownwood football team scored on three of its four trips to the red zone and turned Wylie away without points four times inside its own 20-yard line Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium.
At the end of a physical, hard-fought season opener between the teams, that discrepancy was the difference and deciding factor in what would prove in the final minutes to be a thrilling 13-7 Lions victory.
Wylie outgained Brownwood 301-250 and limited the Lions to a single touchdown, but three fruitless trips inside the BHS 10 left the Bulldogs down 13-0 with 2:13 to play in the game. The home team finally got on the board after that with a quick-strike score and recovered an onside kick with just under 1:40 to play, but the Lions came up with one final red-zone stop in the final minute to seal the win.
Photos by Mike Lee
DE LEON – There were a couple of explanations for why De Leon junior Lane Couch basically sprinted untouched four times on long-distance touchdown runs of 46, 76, 78 and 62 yards during the Bearcats’ 40-7 season-opening football win over the San Saba Armadillos on Friday night.
One was obvious, and Couch – who finished with an eye-opening 348 yards on a modest 14 carries – explained.
“It didn’t matter if we ran left or right, the O-line was opening holes that you could drive a truck through. I mean every time,” Couch said. “Our O-line did a great job of preparing. They work their tails off, and they don’t get much recognition.”
CLYDE — It may have been mistake-filled and a bit sloppy (as many season-openers are). But Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week didn’t fail to entertain those in attendance, with Clyde overcoming Cisco 27-24 in a seesaw battle at Bulldog Stadium.
Devan Wright threw for 196 yards and rushed for 128 while accounting for three touchdowns to lead Clyde (1-0), which overcame a 24-21 deficit when Wright hit Jacob Hernandez with a 5-yard pass over the middle for a go-ahead TD with 5:20 to play. It proved to be the game-winner as the Bulldogs stopped Cisco on its final possession to secure the victory in what has become an intriguing rivalry.
“We always play close games with these guys,” Clyde coach Johnathon Haddock said. “Cisco is a really good football team and I think we have a really good football team too and I think you saw that tonight.
“We were lucky to make some plays in the fourth quarter to put us on top. But there were two very good teams on the field.”
ALBANY — One of the better rivalries that’s developed during the Big Country Preps era is a battle for Class 2A supremacy between Hawley and Albany.
The two teams met for the seventh time since the start of the 2018 season on Friday night at Faith Field at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium, and the 2026 matchup might go down as one of the more memorable ones in that span.
Albany used a fourth-down stop in the second quarter to overcome an early two-score deficit and shift the momentum, helping the Lions open Denney Faith’s 40th year as head coach with a 34-27 win over the Bearcats.
After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.
To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 15 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.
7 p.m. Friday, San Angelo Stadium
7 p.m. Friday, Hornet Field, Azle
7 p.m. Friday, Hugh Sandifer Stadium, Abilene
BIG SPRING — With a combined eight turnovers and 150 penalty yards between the teams, Thursday night’s season opener between Coahoma and Forsan wasn’t a game either coach will be citing as model of desired execution.
But in terms of passion, effort, will to win and, ultimately, intrigue, the annual Howard County Bowl was a masterpiece worthy of the Louvre.
After enduring an almost-hour and a half lightning delay before kickoff, the teams battled to a stalemate through four quarters before Forsan, which had tied the game with 31.6 seconds remaining in regulation, sealed a 22-20 victory with a stop on a two-point conversion try in overtime, setting off a wild on-field celebration fitting of both the thrilling nature of the game’s finish and the intensity of the rivalry between the teams.
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Summer is over (at least as far as the school calendars are concerned).
That means it’s time to lace up the cleats and begin the annual dance otherwise known as the high school football season that some Texans treat with an almost religious enthusiasm.
That also means it’s time for sportswriters across the state to take their weekly stabs at picking the winners of area games — a great source of entertainment for some readers and a great source of frustration for some of us who engage in it.
Nonetheless, it’s time to dive in.
So here we go. I’ll see you on the road.
As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.
After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends earlier today, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 15 with a list of others to watch in 2026. Don’t forget to check in tomorrow when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy this list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-man games, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
We’re approaching the final stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top receivers.
After starting the offensive portion of our series with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 15 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. And we’ll start with the foundation of any productive offense: the offensive line.
For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 15 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.
We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top 10 kickers and top three punters to watch this fall.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2026 season.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we offer fans the chance to pick the winners of all games involving our local and area football teams. The results of these weekly polls, which will close at 5 p.m. each Thursday, will be included in our weekly Pick ‘Em Panel.
Here are the games for Week 1:
Continue reading “WEEK 1 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.
For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top 15 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2026.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen last night, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2026.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 15 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2026.
For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 15 with a list of others to watch this fall.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen”
The time has arrived for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
Several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor have gone into this, so we’re more than ready to post it.
With that please dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road!
Every year, one of the things I look forward to most, is mapping out the upcoming football season — charting the games I believe will have the greatest impact.
First and foremost, it’s a preseason menu for area fans who enjoy driving to some of the Big Country’s best football games on a weekly basis. Call it a football roadmap of sorts.
But be advised: This roadmap almost always begins taking some detours by Week 4 or 5 when some of the area’s surprise teams emerge. And make no mistake, there are always surprises.
That’s half the fun.
The past two years, Tristan Beal represented half of one of the more unique quarterback situations in the state of Texas, sharing the trigger-man position with dynamic athlete Brayden Henry in a true QB tandem.
Used primarily as a pocket passer to complement Henry’s explosiveness in the quarterback run game, Beal shined, playing a prominent role in back-to-back district championships for the Eagles.
With Henry graduating and moving to the college ranks at Division II Colorado State University Pueblo last spring, Beal will take over the quarterback position in a more traditional way this fall. And the experience he gained while passing for 3,068 yards with a 36-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio as a sophomore and junior has the now-veteran signal caller — and his coach — feeling really good about the situation.
After going undefeated through league play last year to extend their district championship streak to three years, the Abilene High Eagles could look a little different in 2026.
In addition to replacing offensive coordinator Colby Hartfield, who left in the spring to take the same position at Dallas-Fort Worth area power Denton Guyer, AHS will likely be playing more young players than fans have grown accustomed to seeing during the Eagles’ program-reestablishing run.
Charged with replacing 30 lettermen, including six starters on both sides of the football, Fullen will be leaning on a talented group of sophomores to fill holes around his 29 returners. And while inexperience could lead to some growing pains early, the veteran coach is confident this team will rise to meet the program’s lofty expectations.
With 42 returning lettermen on this year’s roster, the Wylie football team will have experience back at virtually every position. But the Bulldogs’ linebacking corps, in particular, could be an embarrassment of riches.
In Bo Kates, Cooper Hill, Landry Pate and converted safety Carter Nelson, WHS will have four seniors starting at the position this fall — all with at least one season of varsity starting experience under their belt.
And with a combined 384 tackles, 34 tackles for loss, nine sacks and one interception collected among that group a year ago, coach Clay Martin is expecting that quartet to help lead a defensive resurgence in 2026.
Last year, the Wylie football team found itself on the wrong end of a three-way tie for third place in District 2-5A Division II, resulting in the Bulldogs left on the outside of the playoff picture for the first time since 2021 and just the fourth time since 1993.
With a remarkable 42 lettermen returning from that 5-5 squad, including seven offensive and eight defensive starters, coach Clay Martin’s squad has every intention of capping that drought at a single season.
With experience at virtually every position group and chip on their shoulder, the Bulldogs will be looking to return to district title contention this fall — an even-year tradition for WHS since 2022.
At 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, Jamarion Dunson won’t be the biggest linebacker on any field he takes, but there’s high likelihood that the Cooper senior will be one of, if not the best prepared.
And as a direct result, there’s also a good chance he’ll be one of the most productive.
A true student of the game who loves practice and lives in the film room, Dunson reads and reacts with an efficiency that allows him to play even faster than he is. And due in large part to the preparation he puts in to be ready for Friday nights, he’s grown into a natural leader for the Cougars through his play, words and example.
The Scott Stewart era is set to begin at Cooper, and the longtime Cougars assistant feels this year’s team is both ready and equipped to continue a run of success that has seen the program produce 19 consecutive playoff seasons.
With 26 lettermen returning, including five offensive and six defensive starters, and call-ups from a 9-1 junior varsity team filling any gaps created by graduated losses, the CHS staff feels good about the nucleus it’s building from this fall.
That, combined with a smooth transition from former coach Aaron Roan, who resigned in May to become the associate athletic director for Abilene ISD, to Stewart — Roan’s longtime defensive coordinator — has both the coaches and players excited about their chances of contending in District 2-5A Division II and beyond in 2026.
STEPHENVILLE — If there is anything lacking in the coaching ranks of Texas High School football, in many locations it would be stability.
In an age where fickle fans and capricious school boards can make the thought of leaving some programs quite appealing, Stephenville is showing an uncommon level of stability.
Granted, a high level of success lends itself to a stable coaching climate and under Sterling Doty, who has posted a 76-19 mark and two state titles since 2019, there isn’t a real big push to show him the door. Nonetheless, Doty’s coordinators — Kolt Kittley (offense) and August Dobraski (defense) — have been serving in the same capacity on his staff since his days at Magnolia.
Kittley is entering his 12th season of overseeing Doty’s offense while Dobraski is now in his ninth season of directing Doty’s stop troops. What makes this longevity so exceptional is that both assistants are coveted targets for programs looking for new head coaches.
Both have championship rings and a proven track record on their respective sides of the football. Yet both (at least for now) are happily remaining as key pieces to one of the most stable big-school staffs in the Big Country.
STEPHENVILLE — At first, the numbers, don’t look great. Seven offensive and four defensive starters back with 31 lettermen having received their diplomas.
But if there is any team in the Big Country with a history of overcoming such losses — any team with the resources to keep rolling — it is the top-ranked Stephenville Yellow Jackets.
Coming off a seventh state championship season which saw them post a 16-0 mark, the ‘Jackets have 22 lettermen returning, including several key players, and a gifted 10-0 JV team supplying the new faces. A youthful defense, however, will likely be the critical element to whatever success the ‘Jackets achieve in 2026.
“We only return four players on defense,” coach Sterling Doty said. “But we’ve got some really good players coming back offensively, with our quarterback (Trot Jordan, 3,241 passing yards, 45 TDs), our tailback (Zyler McClendon, 1,702 rushing yards, 28 TDs), some receivers and on our offensive line.”